What kind of fmic setup are you running?

HiImBrian Unregistered

posted 04/11/11 02:58 AM

I'm thinking about replacing all the crappy stock piping for some hard piping that wont have as many boost leaks and I'm wondering what kinda setup everybody is running. I've noticed a trend of relocating the battery and running the intake to that spot which I think I like. I've read plenty of good things about running ebay cores and that's what I plan on doing again, but I'm unsure about the piping.

Chad989of2000blows both ways and is skilled in magic with any mention of diarrhea989/2000141/1000

posted 04/11/11 10:40 AM

...yeah. You'll see a lot of custom jobs on here as far as fmic setups go. The ETS kit is great and basically plug and play (save for some bumper cutting). The cost is a little steep, but it's well worth the price in terms of function.

Ok, well sorry about the gruffness. I'm using a punishment racing 1g fmic core, it fits just right with a little massage on the sides of the ac condenser. But your forced to run a smaller radiator then, I used a Audi 100 core and it seems to work fine being a double pass radiator.

When I search “fmic” these are all the thread titles that show up on the first couple pages:

What kind of fmic setup are you running? (this thread)
Proud new owner of 555/1000 (doesn’t sound like what I’m looking for)
Money pit... (again, not really fmic specific)
Bumper Support Bent. Can the Center Be Removed? (nope, nothing in this one)
aftermarket fog lights (fog lights are nice, but not when I’m searching about fmics)
Bring 1342/2000 back to life (yay for saving a gvr4, but boo for another thread that doesn’t help me)
After a long long time a special GVR4 is out and about. (cool)
Project Log: #594 - 600-650 awhp or BUST!!! (cool thread but again, doesn’t really apply to my search)
Kicking tires again... (still searching for this fmic thread you speak of…)
Sharobious' #103 resto/build (…)
1870/200 resurgence, I.. Live... AGAIN!!1! soon. (…)
1635/2000 Build up thread! (this search thing isn’t producing the results I was hoping for)
Found a GVR4 on autotrader (it’s at this point that I started contemplating creating this thread)
Am I Crazy? STI TMIC as FMIC? ( yahoo! A fmic related thread! …still not what I’m looking for though)
PAGE 2 of searching “fmic”
How expensive is your VR4? (nope, nothing in here)
my vr-4. The pikes peak one. story and build (yet another build thread)
Winter mods- What are you up too? (blizzaks and mudflaps)
I'm at a crossroad now. gm maf or SD (still searching…)
Does the JDM Fmic bolt on without cutting? (you’d think this might have something, but nope…)
Project Thread: 46/1000 - UPDATED 4/8/11 Putting It Together (cool project thread)
New battery location (I like this thread, but it doesn’t help my fmic decision)

At this point I thought it’d be appropriate to create a thread…

Do any of you guys are pictures of different setups? I know with dsms there a "long" and "short" route of piping. Are there different paths to take on the gvr4 that you guys have come up with? Thanks,
-Brian

Quoting 3of1000:When you use the search on this forum put a + before each word. Like this:

+intercooler +ets

we really should sticky how to use the search...seems to confuse a lot of people.Basically, you use the + sign in front of things you want to include, and the - sign in front of things you want to exclude.

so for this, I would search something like "+intercooler -re:"

substitute in "FMIC" or whatever search term you want, I use the "-re:" tag to remove replies from the results, I can read them in the thread, but this way it doesn't show each one as a search result.

I have always used an ebay 24x12x3 intercooler on my cars (three GVR4s and one Talon). For the piping I had always gone to a local tunershop to get the piping, however, this time around I made the piping myself.

You will need to cut the actual metal support behind the urethane bumper. I think people usually use a plasma cutter, a rotary grinder or maybe a sawzall. I woul dsuggest leaving a strip of metal across the top part of the support if you can so that the top of the urethane bumper doesn't sag. Youre gonna need to cut and test fit, cut and test fit.

Here is another fmic thread, I actually found this by searching on google:

I don't doubt the ets is a great piece, I just don't think my goals require something that nice. I know a lot of the dsm guys run cheap ebay cores and have no problems with those. I'm a little surprised that the ebay cores aren't as popular on here.

I can't find my photos but I used to run a 1JZ Supra (Mark 3?) intercooler - flowed top to bottom with a 2" u bend off the turbo and around the radiator and then a pipe that went straight back to the throttle body. Throttle response was pretty crazy

Quoting HiImBrian:I don't doubt the ets is a great piece, I just don't think my goals require something that nice. I know a lot of the dsm guys run cheap ebay cores and have no problems with those. I'm a little surprised that the ebay cores aren't as popular on here.

This is one of the reasons I want another GVR4 and have passed on numerious 1Gs, here they seem to build a higher quality car. Not to say Ebay intercoolers are horrible but there are nicer parts. It also helps the few companies that cater to our car.

^ I agree with that, most GVR4 owners are older and have previous experince with DSMs and know what works and what does not work for the car. However, I don't belive your car becomes more high quality with a $900 intercooler kit or high dollar pieces. I have seen the ETS kit in person and I am very impressed with it, but I can get a good core from ebay and weld my owns pipes for $325 and it looks just as good, fits just as snug, and flows just the same if not more. There is my problem, if that is what you call a problem? I suppose if I was unable to do the work myself I would be more tempted to get an ETS kit or $700 exhasut setup etc...

I have the ETS kit with a anodized black core and matching black piping, think I paid around $900, that was of course a few years ago when they first started the anodized cores. I paid a friend a case of High Life to cut the support with a torch.

With my JDM bumper on you can't see the intercooler unless your right up on it which is exactly what I wanted, also you don't need to worry about cutting with the JDM bumper since you rid the car of that heavy support.

Quoting HiImBrian:I don't doubt the ets is a great piece, I just don't think my goals require something that nice. I know a lot of the dsm guys run cheap ebay cores and have no problems with those. I'm a little surprised that the ebay cores aren't as popular on here.

If a ets kit is too rich for your blood you can always pick up an evo 8-9 fmic and have someone local fab you some pipes. Or you can have someone fab you pipes for a neon srt4 fmic.